Living the dream and remembering the Bagman UPDATED 3/21 - Page 68 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Glad Tokyo Dining were able to accommodate you for dinner, but the Beach Club didn't seem much help with the situation!
No, they really weren't, but there is one final part to this long running saga to come... details eventually, probably now when we return from Disney...
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I know the crowds can be insane on the weekends for the festival and definitely a time to avoid frequenting the food booths! Your two courses looked very good. I haven't dined here in a few years, so certainly on my list, but then again, just too much to chose from now!
I think that's a problem a lot of us have right now!
Saturday 24 September – part eleven: where the heck are all the crowds?
When we came out of Tokyo Dining, we were in for a surprise – where the heck were all the crowds from earlier? We still had an hour to kill before IllumiNations, so we had a wander through the shop here…
Then we slowly made our way around World Showcase, marvelling at how dead the park was. Where the heck were all the people we’d seen earlier, when we were struggling to get into France? It was like everyone went “you know what, let’s leave early”. It was bizarre…
We sat down for a while in Morocco, and then decided to explore the pavilion, as we haven’t looked around here properly in years…
We made our way into France, and both got Grand Marnier Slushes. We headed to the back of the country to sit in the gardens there, and just chilled. I figured we’d get a space for IllumiNations just a couple of minutes before 10:00pm, and if we were 10 people back, then so be it. I just wanted to take it easy tonight.
Imagine our shock when we did head over to get a spot a couple of minutes before the show started, and we were able to walk up and get a front row spot in between France and the United Kingdom. Neither of us could believe it!
Once it was all over, we took in the atmosphere of this, our favourite park, for a little while, then strolled out through International Gateway, singing along to the Tapestry of Nations music. Odd how we weren’t impressed with the parade at the time, but now we have fond memories of it, and love the way the music is still used today, all those years on.
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the high 90s. The best thing today was enjoying the safari and the animal trails with so many good friends. The worst thing today was all the problems with our MagicBands. Today we tried the Boathouse And the result was we really enjoyed our lunch there. The most magical moment today was our great safari with so many good friends.
The last 2 time I've watched Illumination, I've been lucky in finding a front row view only a couple of minutes before the show. I think everyone goes between Norway and Canada to watch. I actually prefer Italy or Japan.
Safe travels today! I can't get over how you just walked up and got a front row spot right before Illuminations started! That was so strange but I loved all the pictures you were able to get because of it! One of the best parts of staying at the BC is walking back to your room after a long day in the parks.
That's strange how everyone seemed to just disappear. Were the food booths still open? Maybe that had something to do with it. I loved the Tapestry of Nations parade and really like the music from it.
Amazing how much the park cleared out! How cool to find a front row spot for Illuminations just a few minutes beforehand. Now I'm humming the Tapestry of Nations music!
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Really strange how the crowds had disappeared while you all ate, but so nice to have a front row spot to Illuminations without standing for an hour prior to the show.
The last 2 time I've watched Illumination, I've been lucky in finding a front row view only a couple of minutes before the show. I think everyone goes between Norway and Canada to watch. I actually prefer Italy or Japan.
Interesting. I hope that doesn't mean IllumiNations is becoming less popular. Given Disney are ending Wishes soon, I don't want them to get the idea to do that for IllumiNations...
I can't get over how you just walked up and got a front row spot right before Illuminations started! That was so strange but I loved all the pictures you were able to get because of it! One of the best parts of staying at the BC is walking back to your room after a long day in the parks.
Oh definitely! Of course this trip, we'll be doing that back to the BoardWalk, which will be a bit odd.....
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Your two courses looked very good. I haven't dined here in a few years, so certainly on my list, but then again, just too much to chose from now! 
Where the heck were all the people we’d seen earlier, when we were struggling to get into France? It was like everyone went “you know what, let’s leave early”. It was bizarre… 
We headed to the back of the country to sit in the gardens there, and just chilled. I figured we’d get a space for IllumiNations just a couple of minutes before 10:00pm, and if we were 10 people back, then so be it. 
But where the heck did everybody go?!
Your photos of Illuminations are stunning!!
Wondering World Showcase and watching Illuminations was a great way to end the evening.
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